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It takes some time to adjust to the tempo ofReservation Dogs.
Theres a feeling thatReservation Dogsmight be fast, propulsive, full of dramatic escalations.
It is not that kind of show.
It is slow and aimless, meandering through the lives of these four teenagers, lingering on small details.
It is a distinctive mood; a show unhurried by unnecessary things.
Even better, you start to see its circling, contemplative aimlessness as key to its characters anxieties.
Its a show about four teenagers trying to find something to do.
They just want to leave.
Elora is the most motivated of the group.
She counts their money constantly, calculating how long itll take to earn enough to leave for California.
(Batman became Batman because his parents died!)
Its no one thing; its everything.
Its in the air.
ButReservation Dogsdoesnt feel like much of Waititis best known other work.
Its quieter, and the humor is played with a more deadpan sensibility.
Things are more desperate inReservation Dogs, though.
Things are much less cuddly here.
To be fair, all the superficials are wildly different, in ways that are key toReservation Dogsidentity.
They are characters who long to be connected to something bigger and who stumble over mysticism almost incidentally.
Both shows treat those scenes with a matter-of-fact lack of surprise.
As a young person, of course youd want to run far away.
And obviously its not that simple.
